Well the last three months have been different - but not necessarily in a good way. There seems to have been no time for anything since Ann broke her hip in a fall at home. What a thing to happen. The nine day stay at Paphos Hospital was a mixture of the very good and the very bad, and I was never so glad to see the ambulance drive up to bring her home.
Ann has been incredibly brave and determined in the last three and a half months. On the credit side she was operated on by a brilliant surgeon whose skills were obvious once the monthly X-rays were taken. The plate and screws could not have been placed more accurately. Recovery was helped by an excellent physiotherapist from Polis, who visited us twice a week before Christmas. Since then Ann has made weekly visits to his clinic and the improvement is so noticeable.
The wheelchair has been returned to the medical centre, the walking frame is now in storage at home and the walking sick makes the occasional guest appearance. I am full of admiration for my darling wife, who has achieved so much in such a short time.
The end of winter is fast approaching and today is blue skies and warm sunshine. We have kept ourselves comfortable and dry at home thanks to a combination of log deliveries from “The Professor”, whose stacking skills are legendary, and to the installation of two modern air conditioning units (air inverter) in the bedroom and living area. They are quiet, much more efficient and cost less to run than the two units that were replaced.
Our team to help us in the house and garden is now complete. Our super pool man has been with us for about four years now and the pool is always sparkling and healthy. Sadly our remarkable gardener (and general odd-job man) left Cyprus to return home, and has then moved to the USA. How we miss Gerald and his wife. But our new gardening team from Sri Lanka are outstanding, and I have never seen gardeners work as fast or as efficiently. And our new cleaner is from the same mould - works from the moment she arrives and does not stop. Ann is delighted.
The landlord of our local pub died unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago, which saddened us. He was a guy who never said “No” when you asked for help or a favour. His widow has handed the management of the pub to another couple but our two subsequent visits were not auspicious. No doubt time will tell.
Life here in Cyprus can become a prolonged exercise in navel gazing, whilst parts of the world go to hell in a handcart. The appalling events in Gaza occupy the television screens and newspaper columns, with Ukraine lurking just left of centre. The barbarity and cruelty of man is plain for all to see. The news from the UK suggests a country that is broken, and lawless - without hope of redemption. And the knee jerk reaction of decent people is what feeds the lurch to an authoritarian right wing.
For a different point of view on our life here, you might enjoy Ann’s blog “Further Musings from a Cyprus Garden” which you can find at
http://furthermusingsfromacyprusgarden.blogspot.com/
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